Month: December 2012

This instructional video shows you how to set up a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) called Dexcom. At the end of the video, you will see how the CGM shows a diabetic where their sugars have been over the last 3 hours.

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Why does my blood sugars have to be high during the Christmas season? Oh yeah, maybe cuz there’s so many treats and goodies around!

I have always been good to watch out for the sweets since I was diagnosed… even refused to eat my own birthday cake one year because of all the sugar! Yeah, my mom yelled at me later to just eat it without the icing, and I was surprised to see that my blood sugar level didnt skyrocket! Little more insulin, and everything was good.

But why is it that around Christmas time this year that I am having a prolonged high blood sugar? I do watch the sweets and take my normal amount of insulin! This morning (Christmas Eve) I discovered my issue.

I woke up with a blood sugar level of 232 mg/dL, which is very abnormal for me in the morning. I tend to have lower sugar levels in the AM, so I’m usually running for juice. This morning I awoke and ran to the bathroom, the classic and most common symptom of having high blood sugar. I also was extremely dehydrated and felt nauseous. Naturally, I gave myself a big boost of insulin and laid down til it kicked in. An hour later, and nothing happened. Still felt sick, unmotivated and was still HIGH! Egh, just what everyone wants to wake up to on Christmas Eve, right?

Shortly afterwards, I received the alarming and continuous BEEEEEEEEEEEEP from my OmniPod Insulin Pump. I had an occlusion. Great, that’ll explain the highs. Occasionally this happens when the sensor (or tube inside my skin) gets a somewhat backwash, or liquid going back into the insulin pump instead of coming out of it. The backwash can be either water, insulin or sometimes blood from the site. I knew it was the insulin because I had just given myself a 2nd boost for the morning.

I just changed my pump site, but am still not feeling back to my normal self yet. Checked my sugar level again and found I was 338 mg/dL. No wonder I am still feeling sick to my stomach, headache and thirsty beyond belief! Even looking at food is making me nauseous, but I am glad the occusion happened before I left for the day. Otherwise I would be a verrrry grumpy Grinch for the family tonight.

All I want for Christmas is to find a cure for my diabetes. I hope that it is not too much to ask…. donations to JDRF would be a great Holiday gift, and can be done so by clicking here and visiting my team’s webpage. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone out there. Hope yours is better than mine has been thus so far.

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With the Holidays upon us, this may be a difficult time for the diabetics in your household. Everyone wants some sweet treats, especially when everyone around you is eating those “no-no” sweet treats. You can learn how to make a sugar free cheesecake, perfect for the diabetics in your household, or those looking for something sweet, but by cutting back on sugar intake.

Here I show you how to create a cheesecake using splenda instead of regular sugar. It is better for you, and doesn’t spike your blood sugar levels. Great for all diabetics, minus the toppings.

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With Christmas coming up shortly here’s a couple of Diabetic Friendly Desserts for those that have to watch carbs. A reader that follows my blog passed these along to me to share. He said they came from a Diabetic Cookbook that contained Splenda made desserts. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

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So I have been slowly cutting down on that 1 pack of ciggs a day, and now I have gotten to 2 ciggs per day! That’s great, right?
Well, according to non-smokers and the doctors, it still isn’t good enough. That sucks! Especially because I live with Type 1 Diabetes and have been a full-time smoker for the last 8 years. I have never noticed how much that 5-minute-smoke-break affected my blood sugar levels.

Here are the biggest reasons why mixing diabetes with smoking is a very bad idea:

You are more likely to get nerve damage (neuropathy). This is because smoking affects your blood circulation and that in turn means your nerve endings are not getting the nutrients they need. If this happens to the nerves in your feet it could lead to sores and infections and, if not taken care of properly, even amputation.

There is an increased risk – double in fact -of you getting limited mobility in your joints. It’s no fun trying to bend, climb stairs or lift something when you have a painful joint.

Research has shown that diabetics who smoke increase, 3-fold, the risk of dying of heart (cardiovascular) disease.

By smoking you increase your blood-sugar levels. This makes it more difficult to control your diabetes because your glucose levels could be fluctuating quite dramatically. This, in turn, leads to other problems.

And it also increases your cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of a heart attack.

And, of course, on top of all that there’s the proven risk of cancer! But perhaps more importantly, research suggests that nicotine replacement products (such as patches and nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes) aren’t a safe option for diabetes patients either. Because they still contain nicotine, these products are just as likely to boost A1c levels in diabetics as cigarettes are. Xiao-Chuan Liu, a professor of chemistry at the California State Polytechnic University says that “In order to minimize your chances of developing diabetes or diabetic complications, you need to quit smoking.”

Even it means going cold turkey. Egh! I guess have to abide to my new New Years Resoultion and finally quit smoking.

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The New York Times has really been irritating me lately… especially with them posting the photo of the man on the train tracks, saying he was about to die! Well now, apparently, they feel more superior to medical doctors and endocrinologists as well. NY Post wants me to feel like they are so special, that they have found the cure for diabetes! Come on — please!

In an article posted on November 26th, getting and/or having diabetes is now being blamed on low levels of vitamin D levels in the body. “Researchers” did a study on a bunch of active duty military personal between 2004 and 2008 and checked their vitamin D levels. “Compared with those who had vitamin D levels above 40 nomograms per millilitre of blood, those with readings of 17 nomograms or less were more than three times as likely to develop Type 1 diabetes, the researchers found.” Oh please!!

What I don’t understand is how come so many military personal are coming home and discovering that they have Type 1 Diabetes? First of all, the percentages of getting Type 1 Diabetes are much smaller than Type 2 Diabetes. Secondly, Type 1 Diabetes is usually discovered when people are of younger age, children mostly. Yes those in active duty for the military may be young — 18 years of age or older — but compared with the general population of those who get Type 1 Diabetes, they are old.

The only thing I can really see playing a factor in this study is the stress that these military guys are under. I have no family history of diabetes, yet somehow I developed it at 9 years of age. My doctors claimed that I developed Type 1 Diabetes due to the stress I was under. What stress could a 9-year-old be under? Stresses from the divorce of my parents, being the oldest child, watching and occupying my sisters and infant brother. Could it be possible that the stress of being in the military added to the reality of them becoming a Type 1 Diabetic?

The article also states that none of the tests were done irregularly. “The study is not a randomized trial, and the finding is an association that does not prove causation.” How often would you check all miliary men for their vitamin D levels? Ok, fine, whatever you’d like to say NY Post.

If you’d like to read the article I am referring to, please click here.

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This is how to put on and use an OmniPod Insulin pump, for type 1 diabetics. This pump, or “pod” as you may hear me call it, has a very small tube that is inserted inside the skin for the time the pod is active (usually 3 days). I love my OmniPod insulin pump and couldn’t imagine life without it!

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I just read an article that made me feel so relieved. The article claimed that researchers are working on a study to use umbilical cord research in order to help “cure” the antibodies that kill off the hormones that stop the pancreas from making insulin in Type 1 Diabetics. The article is called Cord blood may be the key to beating type 1 diabetes, and states that a “baby’s umbilical cord and placenta are usually thrown away after birth, but the blood remaining in them is rich in cells that researchers hope will one day treat several conditions,” and Type 1 Diabetes being one of them!

Could this be possible? Well there is no hope for me in this situation, I just an “old” type 1 diabetic. But that is ok, I hope they can figure something out for our future generations. “The president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Michael Permezel, said the study was exciting because it could provide some much-needed information for parents.” Diabetes has made me a much stronger person, but there is no need for anyone else to have to suffer if there is a simple solution to reverse diabetes as soon as it is discovered.

Hopefully when the time does come, I will not have to worry about my children carrying my “bad diabetic genes.” Eventually there will be a cure, but for now we all just need to pray that it happens sooner rather then later.